In case you haven't figured it out yet, you need to at least pretend safety is the reason you want 1500/500 mins, not to create an artificial lack of pilot supply leading to a bigger paycheck...

Your newsletter - I want to subscribe to it :D

I was a self-admitted airplane nerd in college and remain one today. Don't get me wrong, aviation is FAR from being my life but as my chosen industry I think it my responsibility to keep abreast of what's going on in all segments - that's why I participate on many internet aviation forums, get AIN/ProPilot/BCA, read any Aviation Week I can get my hands on ($60/yr is too rich for me to subscribe), and am posting on this thread in the Majors forum of Airline Pilot Central when I'm a corporate pilot ;)

Aspiring professional pilots coming up in flight schools in 2010 don't have any excuses to claim they don't know about the pay and lifestyle of corporate or charter or regional or legacy airline pilots, let alone the pitfalls of scabbing, or PFT, or the whole "spikey-haired-ipod-having-backpack-wearing-RJ FO" stereotype.

Well said... I frankly worry about the caliber and judgement of a pilot entering the profession today with all that is known about this rotting profession. The mystery was intact when I came in back in '94, but fully exposed by 2000... and now 10 years later it's become the topic of media story after story. You can't say you didn't expect your career to suck this bad anymore.

In my case, I just wish I wasn't 40 so I could go back and get a degree in engineering or science and do something else with my professional life!

How long would that take? Have you seriously thought about it or just posting to post?

I've gone as far as do a lot of research on it... problems I see are:

-cost of tuition as a college grad, compounded by need to raise family, and save for college for my 10 and 7 year old.

-time it would take to get to at least a competitive MS degree is 4 yrs or more

-What's the job market like for the various career paths that are out there, and which ones are the next "Airline Pilot" in that they're flooded with applicants

-What kind of work can I enjoy? I have to see myself doing something for the next 25+ years and enjoying it..

For now, I'm living off mainly investment income and occasional contract work as a pilot, but I feel like there is a hole in my life compared to when I was fully employed with the airlines.

So what's to complain about? Looks like you have plenty of time to go to law or engineering school if you want another hobby.

no I don't.... expenses exceed income, and eating away at savings.. If I spend the next 4 years earning nothing, and take on $50-70K in college loans, it's a recipe for disaster ...

nothing is simple.

There is a multitude of reason why I think mins should be 1500/500 and safety is my number one reason... I was trying to relate my response to the thread... my apologies if you read my post and thought otherwise. Frankly, there are probably 7000+ pilots out there right now that have more than the purposed mins and for at least the first 10 years I don't think there will be a shortage per se. But I think in the long term scheme of things it will be a barrier to entry that less people are willing to make the sacrifice for. I also think the type of experience leading to 1500/500 is equally important.... simply flying around the pattern in Day VFR does not equate to experience in decision making, a sharpening of one's instrument scan, or much needed understanding of Crew Resource Management.
I am a big fan of VFR 135 outfits because it gets you into the thought process of dispatch, weather planning, issues pertaining to pax/cargo, and overall eases the transition to IFR 135/Airline training standards and operations. But all of this is just my opinion so feel free to rip into me if you see some sort of error in my thought process.:D

Not so fast ...
 

There are no jobs for us re-tread lawyers either

1500/500 minimum? I think a waiver for fighter guys would be reasonable.